


Little Explosions

by sweeetmonstrosity



Series: Marvel Fluff Bingo 2019 [9]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fireworks, First Kiss, Fourth of July, Getting Together, It's Steve Rogers Birthday Party, M/M, Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-13 02:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20574773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweeetmonstrosity/pseuds/sweeetmonstrosity
Summary: For nearly a year Sam has been receiving little gifts with notes attached to each one in his room. He doesn't know who is leaving this stuff for him but he's come to look forward to waking up and finding something new. When he least expects it, the truth smacks him in the face. Now, it's Steve's birthday and Sam has come face to face with his admirer and things take a turn he didn't expect when the first firework lights up the sky (and suddenly there is a new taste on his tongue and someone literally stealing his breath).





	Little Explosions

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was created for the Sam Wilson Birthday Bang and [ this wonderful art piece ](https://fee-does-band-art.tumblr.com/post/188026669817/this-is-my-piece-for-the-samwilsonbirthdaybang) was created by [ the amazing Fee ](https://pastel-franceschi.tumblr.com/) (who also has a [ separate art blog ](https://fee-does-band-art.tumblr.com/) for her fantastic art creations!)
> 
> This also fills some bingo squares:  
SSB square I4 – Fireworks  
MFB square N3 – Free Space  
BBB square U3 – Secret Admirer  
SBB square G5 - Secret Notes

It’d been happening for months. At first he thought it was just Clint or Clint teaching the ‘super soldier twins’ the type of pranks he specialized in. But after waking up every morning to find his favorite morning pastry waiting for him, or he finding small gifts all around his room – that’s when he realized it was something more than a prank, but Sam still could never catch whoever it was that was doing this.

Sam would find the pastries sitting in a suspicious looking white box – no note, no name, nothing but the pastry in the box. Coming back from a mission was when he usually found the “small gifts,” which usually consisted of small shady looking weapons, some with falcons or other things engraved into the handles or the blades, all wrapped with little bows and placed all over his room. He would find them laying in the middle of his bed, neatly placed in his drawers, hidden on his bookshelf, placed specifically on his nightstand. Hell, sometimes these shady weapons would make it into his car or near his gear.

_ Not that he would ever admit it, but when those weapons came in handy, he felt he could just kiss the person who left them. Whether they were playing a prank or not. _

Three months in, he almost caught the person red-handed. There weren’t any missions scheduled for him, Steve or Bucky, but at the last minute, Natasha needed backup and Clint was unavailable, so he suited up and left without anyone really knowing.

When he came home, it was nearing six in the morning and Sam was basically dead on his feet as we walked through the compound toward his room. The moment he opened his door he could smell the sweet aroma of freshly made pancakes and bacon and he knew this new secret admirer of his had just struck and he’d only missed him by a couple minutes, at most. When Sam thought back to his trek down the hallway to his room, he faintly remembered at least three shadows moving past him, but for the life of him, he couldn’t make out any distinctive features on those faces.

So, he’s become accustomed to looking forward to the little random weapons wrapped in bows and the wonderful tasting breakfast or pastries that show up every single day. At around nine months of trying to figure out who this mystery person was, Sam started noticing little things. Like someone would ask about or reference a type of weapon he got as a gift, but he just assumed he had mentioned getting them when they were on missions or they saw him messing with them around the compound.

It wasn’t until they were at Steve’s birthday barbecue and Sam was talking to Natasha about the latest gift he received, which had a paw print and some wings engraved into the handle, that things fell into place. Bucky and Clint walked over to the table to get another drink and Sam stopped in the middle of his sentence so no one could hear anything about his newest gift. He wanted to keep this to himself for a while because it felt like it meant more than just another gift. But when he cut himself off, he heard Clint’s voice flow through his ears.

“So, you did it all by hand? You know it would have been faster if you went somewhere and had it done for you right?” Clint raised an eyebrow as he grabbed another water.

Sam glanced over in time to watch Bucky pull his hair up into a bun, “I know I could have, but it wouldn’t have meant the same. Everything else was bought or done professionally. This was the final step before I actually face the situation.”

“Face the situation, you mean actually  _ face to face?”  _ Clint’s eyes go wide, “Holy shit. You sure you’re ready for that, Buck?”

Bucky doesn’t say anything for a minute and when Sam looks back over to him he sees Bucky get this look in his eyes. It’s a look of fierce determination, but it’s softened adoration. He’s seen something similar on Bucky’s face before, and it’s usually when he’s on a mission that he won’t stop until he’s satisfied with the results.

“Yeah,” Bucky finally replies breathlessly, “Yeah Clint. I think I’m ready for it. I’ve been doing this for a year, he hasn’t thrown any of them away that I can tell anyways and —”

Sam’s ears start ringing and he looked back at Nat with a panicked expression. He lets her pull him back inside the compound with some excuse and he knows no one follows them. Once they get to his room he starts pulling out all the things he’s received from his ‘admirer.’

“It’s him, isn’t it? Natasha, was Bucky the one leaving these things for me? Has this all been some joke he and Clint planned out!?” Sam spat out as he grabbed the box of notes that came with each gift and dumped them out on the bed.

Sam knew. He knew Natasha was letting him put everything together on his own and letting him get his head around it before she spoke, but he’s feeling too much. There’s too much going on in his head for him to focus on putting all this together on his own. “Nat, please. I need to know.”

“If it was any type of prank, none of us would have let it go on for this long, Sam. You know that.”

Flopping down on the bed Sam sighed, “Okay, so it wasn’t a prank and everyone here knew he was doing it. I’m assuming you all figured it out - rather than be told he was doing it – so, why didn’t I notice it? Why was Bucky able to do this for nearly an entire year without me even picking up on the smallest hint that it was him?”

“You liked the anonymity of it. You don’t need me to tell you that Sam. The fact that there was no pressure from whoever it was, but you still got to be shown a lot of attention from someone who wanted you and only you. You were put first before anyone else. You enjoyed being doted on and there is nothing wrong with that.”

“Natasha, I should have known it was him! That’s the problem I’m having with this whole thing – it’s not that you all figured it out or that he has been giving me these amazing gifts for almost a year. The problem is I should have known,” Sam said defeatedly.

Opening his eyes when he felt the bed dip next to him, Sam sees a gentle smile grace Natasha’s face and her hand slips in to his. “There is one thing you’re not including in your thought process, Sammy, and that is that you didn’t  _ really _ want to know.”

“Of course I wanted to know, Natasha!”

Nat frowned. “You didn’t Sam. It was obvious it was someone here in the compound that was doing it and by process of elimination it was quite easy to figure out who was behind it. Anonymity meant no commitment, which you both liked for separate reasons.”

They heard Steve call for everyone to come back outside for party games and Sam felt her squeeze his hand before she stood. “Sammy, since you heard what he and Clint were talking about outside, it’s time for you to decide now. Do you want to continue what you guys have going on now, while  _ actually  _ being together _ .  _ Or did you want this only because it wasn’t really ‘ _ real’  _ in the sense of being a couple and doing couple-y things? I’ll tell everyone that Riley called and you’re catching up, so take this time and think about what you want because you’re going to have to face it sooner than you think.”

~~~

It took some time - a lot more time than Sam thought it would take. But after his little chat with Natasha, where he’d been basically on the edge of fully panicking about what he’d overheard, Sam knew what he wanted. 

Heading back outside to get some food before it was all gone, Sam could feel eyes on him as he walked across the yard. He had a very good feeling who it was, but he couldn’t determine the reason why those eyes felt like there was a little menace or anger accompanying the stare. Finally gaining enough courage to look up and find those eyes, all Sam saw was a disappointed tiny hawk, a very muscled back with slumped shoulders walking away, an uncomfortable looking Wanda, and a slightly confused but also understanding look from Captain America, himself. 

Going with his gut, Sam headed towards the table where Natasha and Tony were talking and opened his mouth to ask  _ ‘what the hell is going on?’  _ but all that came out was a distressed sound that Natasha seemed to understand immediately.

“Relax, Sam, take a break and don’t worry about it. Ice-pop number two can handle it, he’s a big boy.” Tony said with as much sass as he could. 

“Wh-what?” Sam looked around the yard, searching for some kind of deeper explanation, “I don’t understand. What happened? Why does everyone look like I kicked a puppy and put it in a dumpster?” The longer no one said anything, the more worried Sam became. What could have happened in the time frame that he was in the house thinking about what Nat said? “Can someone please tell me what’s going on? If something happened to Bucky I have a right to know as much as the rest of you!”

“How’s Riley doing, Sammy?”

He didn’t know who said it or why it felt like those four words were the very thing that caused whatever this was to happen. It was so silent at that moment that they could’ve probably heard a pin drop in the grass. What felt like an eternity later, it hit him and suddenly Sam was spinning in a circle trying to remember which way his grumpy little snowflake disappeared to.

“Hey Sam, I think now is the time to take that breath Tony advised you to take like two minutes ago.” Clint smacked him on the back of the head the second Steve stopped Sam from going in circles. “You’re going to pass out if you don’t breath, idiot.”

“You and Steve know him better than the rest of us, Sam. Where does the one, James Buchanan Barnes, go when he needs some space or to think things out with no interference?” Tony asked. “I don’t-”

“The real question to ask here is where do  _ you  _ go when you want to be alone, Sam?” Wanda questioned softly.

It took not even a full second before Sam was working his way back through the compound, heading to one of the two places he liked to go to clear his head. As much as he hoped Bucky was in the workout room, he knew deep down that Bucky wouldn’t want to be inside physically working through what was going on in his head. Especially not on Steve’s birthday when said birthday boy would come looking for Bucky as soon as he realized Bucky wasn’t socializing. Which left Sam running back through the maze of the compound to the stairs that led to the roof.

And there he was. Sitting on the other end of the roof that had a perfect view of the water and all the greenery, was his grumpy snowflake throwing rocks over the edge. As Sam started walking towards him, he heard the others bringing out the cake and fireworks as Steve’s last present. 

The silence between them didn’t feel right. Sam didn’t know how to explain it, but he knew this silence felt detrimental to their dynamic. And he didn’t even think - just blurted out the first thing on the tip of his tongue, “Nothing’s going on between me and Riley.” 

The silence after that statement was different, but still had that undesirable feeling attached to it. “You should be down there with everyone celebrating, not up here with me,” Bucky said quietly.

“I am supposed to be here with you. I _ want  _ to be here with you. I overheard what you and Clint were talking about and-”

“And,” Bucky interrupted, “You put it together that it was me the whole time, but you don’t want or see me that way because you have someone else. I got it, Sam. It’s fine. Go enjoy the rest of the party with Steve.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do when you’re up here sulking, jackass. Steve was your best friend first, so you can’t pull that card on me either,” Sam huffed out and he swore he could see the corner of Bucky’s lips slightly tilt up in his small ‘I’m proud of you’ smile but it happened too quickly for Sam to be sure.

Sam heard the beginnings of the happy birthday song being sung and tisks in Bucky’s direction, “Are you happy? You’re missing singing your best friend happy birthday and he’s definitely not getting any younger here, so you have to take advantage of the little things happening now.”

Bucky snorted and turned back to look at the water. “Out of the two of us, I’m the one that knows the little things are important.”

“Bucky-”

“Don’t Sam. I’m good at picking up on words not said and I got what you were saying through Natasha loud and clear.”

Sam frowned hard as he stomped over to Bucky and slapped a hand over his mouth. “I love your voice. I really do but I’m tired of you interrupting me when I’m trying to explain something to you. Now, are you going to be quiet for like ten seconds so I can talk?” When he received a single nod from Bucky he slowly took his hand away.

“You are smart. One of the smartest people I’ve ever known, even at 100 years old. But for fucks sake, Bucky, you are also a goddamn idiot. An absolute idiot. One of the biggest idiots that has ever lived in this compound.” Sam paused and was pleasantly surprised when Bucky just raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. “You didn't pick up anything from what Natasha didn’t say’ because if you did, you would’ve heard that I was in my room trying to figure out how exactly to tell you that I want this.”

“You wha-?” Sam covered Bucky’s mouth again and stated loudly, “Shush. You heard right, Buck. I want  _ this. _ ” Sam demonstrated what  _ this  _ is by waving his hand between the two of them. “But I’m sc-”

And before Sam could continue with the speech he’d thought of earlier,he heard the first  _ pops _ of the first fireworks, looked up to see the red sparks in the sky, and then suddenly - lips were pressed against his own, the taste of cherries on his tongue, and the breath being stolen from his lungs.

Sam mentally counted five more fireworks going off before the kiss broke off and he could breathe again. Looking up to question,  _ “Where the hell did that come from? Y’know air is good for us, right?”  _ he saw the happiest look on Bucky’s face and he swore there were little hearts in the Winter Soldier’s eyes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. But I needed to do it before you started one of your long winded speeches.” Sam looked appalled at that. 

“I do not do long winded speeches! I do short and simple ones!” Sam couldn’t even hold the frown in place once he saw Bucky tilt his head back and laugh loudly. “Okay, fine,” Sam sniffed, “Maybe I do long speeches sometimes. It’s not my fault Steve’s rubbing off on me though.”

Bucky’s laughter died down into small chuckles and Sam’s heart skipped a beat at his next statement. “Been best friends with one and now boyfriends with another who knows how to turn a “let’s go get ‘em” into a 15-minute speech. But I wouldn’t change anything about you two.”

“Now boyfriends with the other? Does that mean-” 

“That we’re together now? Yeah, Sam, it does. If I had my way about it, you would’ve been officially mine coming up on a year right now. You  _ have  _ been mine, you just didn’t know it yet.” Sam went willingly when Bucky pulled him to stand in front of him and rested his chin on Sam’s shoulder to watch the fireworks show. 

Sam hummed softly and entwined his fingers with Bucky’s. “I like the sound of officially being yours, Buck.” Feeling a kiss on the bottom of his jaw made Sam smiles softly, but what made that smile grow to the point he’s smiling like a fool on an extreme sugar high was his boyfriend’s final declaration of the night.

“Good, because I’m not going anywhere Sammy. Even if it means I have to fight every person in the world on my own, there is no one or any reason that will ever make me leave you.”

  
  


  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!  
Let me know what you think!  
& thank you for reading! <3


End file.
